


Confessions & Lamentations: A Babylon 5 Soundtrack

by Andraste



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Community: fst, Fanmix, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-22 05:18:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3716608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andraste/pseuds/Andraste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of thirteen prophecies, eleven tragic romances, eight wars, and one very special space station.</p><p>A fandom soundtrack for <i>Babylon 5</i>, originally made for the Fandom Soundtrack Project in 2005. Now 'remastered' and available on 8tracks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Confessions & Lamentations: A Babylon 5 Soundtrack

**Author's Note:**

> The first version of this fanmix was made in 2005. This tenth anniversary edition is even longer than the original, and substitutes a few new tracks for old ones.
> 
> A huge number of people share the credit for this project. Thanks are in the end notes!

Because this mix contains sixty-five tracks (!) it has been split into five parts, one for each season. All of them are available on 8tracks.

[Season One: Signs and Portents](https://8tracks.com/draste/confessions-lamentations-signs-and-portents)

**1\. Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier - Jacqueline Schwab**

Twelve years before Babylon 5 went online, the human race was almost wiped out because of two mistakes.

The Minbari were an ancient people who kept to themselves. Humans were a relatively new power on the galactic scene. When the flagship that housed the Minbari Grey Council encountered an Earth military vessel for the first time, it was a tragedy in the making. The Minbari approached with their gun ports open, a sign of respect among their people. The inexperienced human captain misinterpreted this as hostility, and ordered his troops to fire. During the attack, the leader of the Grey Council was killed. Filled with grief and rage, the remaining members declared war. For two years, Earth fought against a technologically superior foe they could never hope to defeat. In all that time, only one Minbari warship was destroyed, while the humans lost and lost. Finally, the war reached Earth itself. Every ship still intact was sent out in a last-ditch attempt to delay the Minbari fleet in order to allow some refugees to escape.

As they contemplated certain victory, the Grey Council chose a human at random and brought him aboard their ship in order to interrogate him about Earth's defences. However, once they had questioned their prisoner - an apparently ordinary pilot by the name of Jeffrey Sinclair - a bizarre miracle occurred. The Council ordered their ships to stop attacking, called off the war, and returned to their own territory without explanation. They also released Sinclair, who retained no memory of the twenty-four hours he spent on the Grey Council ship.

Although genocide was averted, the toll taken on humanity was devastating. Of the twenty thousand people who fought on the side of Earth in the Battle of the Line, just over two hundred survived.

_"The sky was full of stars, and every star an exploding ship."_

**2\. Prologue - Nigel Westlake**

The Babylon stations were built with the idealistic purpose of preventing another war, by offering major and minor powers a place to negotiate their differences. Babylon 5, the first of its kind not to explode or vanish during construction, is a hub for diplomacy and commerce. But peace - on a galactic, local or personal scale - is always an elusive goal for the residents of the station. By attempting to create consensus, Babylon 5 inevitably attracts more than its fair share of conflict. Often it seems that the place can't make it through three weeks together without someone trying to blow it up.

_"When something we value is destroyed, we rebuild it. If it's destroyed again, we rebuild it again. And again, and again, and ... again, until it stays. That, as our poet Tennyson once said, is the goal: to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."_

**3\. Planet of New Orleans - Dire Straits**

For all its dangers, Babylon 5 is also a fascinating place to live. From the Zocalo to the conference rooms, the docking bays to the Dark Star, the gardens to the slums of Down Below, it's rarely boring.

_It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens, wrapped in two million five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last, best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5._

**4\. Cartoon Heroes - Aqua**

Babylon 5 is staffed by humans, but home to diplomats from each of the important species. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair has been placed in charge at the behest of the Minbari, although he doesn't know why. He's assisted by his second-in-command Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova and by Security Chief Michael Garibaldi. Medical matters are in the able hands of Doctor Stephen Franklin, and the station's resident commercial telepath is Talia Winters. The major alien races - Minbari, Narn and Centauri - are represented by Ambassadors Delenn, G'Kar and Londo Mollari respectively, along with their aides Lennier, Na'Toth and Vir Cotto. Meanwhile, the Vorlon ambassador hovers mysteriously in the background.

It's a place where the personalities tend toward the larger-than-life and the action moves fast ... but that doesn't mean there's no time to relax and watch a few old cartoons.

_"This is my second-favourite thing in the universe."_

**5\. Sunday Bloody Sunday - Nolwenn Leroy**

The other conflict that has defined the recent history of the known galaxy is that between the Narn and the Centauri. There was a time when the Centauri ruled a vast empire that included dozens of worlds. When the Narn rebelled against their alien masters, it was the beginning of the end for that empire. In place of the Centauri, the Narn are on the rise – but will they simply repeat the mistakes of their oppressors?

_"They are alone. They are a dying people. We should let them pass."_

_"Who? The Narn or the Centauri?"_

_"Yes."_

**6\. Nikosi Yamakosi - Ladysmith Black Mambazo**

Cultural exchange comes in many forms. Whether its a religious Centauri banquet, a Minbari rebirth ceremony or a meeting between a human pilot and an incomprehensibly ancient alien, Babylon 5 provides the setting for a thousand close encounters.

_"From birth, through death and renewal._  
_You must put aside old things old fears old lives._  
_This is your death._  
_The death of flesh, the death of pain._  
_The death of yesterday._  
_Taste of it and be not afraid._  
_For I am with you to the end of time."_

**7\. Staralfur - Sigur Ros**

Perhaps the most enigmatic alien resident on Babylon 5 is Ambassador Kosh. He represents the Vorlons, the oldest and most powerful beings in the galaxy - at least as far as the younger races are aware. Kosh and his people have hidden reasons of their own for maintaining a presence on the station, and they have little to do with regular attendance at council meetings. Kosh himself is almost as opaque as the 'encounter suit' that conceals his appearance from everyone.

_"They say God works in mysterious ways."_

_"Maybe so - but he's a conman compared to the Vorlon."_

**8\. Secure Yourself - Indigo Girls**

Like all human telepaths, Talia Winters belongs to the Psi Corps. This shadowy organisation oversees its members with an iron fist in a black velvet glove, but not everyone is willing or able to conform to their rigid rules. When Talia's former lover Jason Ironheart is experimented on by the Corps, he gains power far beyond what they anticipated. Fleeing to Babylon 5 as his telekinesis rages out of control, he wants only to see Talia one more time before a strange transformation takes him away from the Psi Corps and humanity itself forever. Ironheart leaves behind a sliver of his telekinetic ability for Talia - whether she wants it or not.

_"I have become. In memory of love, I give you a gift."_

**9\. Sonata X For Prepared Piano - John Cage**

Jeffrey Sinclair has forgotten what happened to him during the Battle of the Line, and it's not because he was concussed or deprived of oxygen. When two anti-alien bigots who suspect him of being brainwashed by the Minbari kidnap and torture the Commander, he begins to recover his memories. But he may not be ready to hear the truth about why he and the planet Earth were spared that day ...

_"There is a hole in your mind."_

**10\. Facades - Philip Glass**

Even the planet below Babylon 5 – initially thought to be a lifeless mudball – has secrets of its own. It houses an ancient machine of great power that has slumbered beneath the surface for generations. Its guardian grows weaker and weaker, but it must soon be awakened to play its part in the events that will shake the station in years to come. Delenn's mentor Draal steps into the Great Machine to become its new living guide.

_"It is a wonder. The machine will extend his life, as it did for me. He will see all the tomorrows. Hear all the songs. Touch the edge of the universe with his thoughts."_

**11\. Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds**

Although they are only rumours and legends to most of the younger species, there is a power in the galaxy that was old when even the Vorlons were young. Known only as Shadows, these aliens have an ancient conflict with the Vorlons that will soon shape the future of the galaxy once more.

The Shadows first enter the story of Babylon 5 in the seemingly innocuous form of Morden. He comes to the station to ask each of the alien ambassadors an important question, but it is only Londo Mollari who gives him the type of answer he's looking for. Londo is a man haunted by the past glories of his people, embittered by the decline of the Centauri and frustrated by his own missed opportunities. Above all, Londo resents the Narn rise to power, especially when it gives his rival Ambassador G'Kar a chance to needle him.

His desperation makes him the perfect target for Morden's advances, and he is delighted when the odd young human helps him out of a difficult situation by recovering a priceless Centauri artifact. Londo Mollari wants it all back - but he doesn't yet suspect the price he'll have to pay.

_"What do you want?"_

**12\. Lost in Space - Apollo 440**

Babylon 5 may have its problems, but compared to the first four Babylon stations it's positively blessed by fate. Babylons 1 through 3 each exploded during construction, the targets of sabotage. Babylon 4 disappeared into thin air the day it went online.

As the crew investigate some strange occurrences in the sector of space where Babylon 4 seemingly evaporated four years ago, they receive a distress call claiming to come from the lost station. Responding to this unexpected cry for help, Sinclair and Garibaldi travel to the correct coordinates only to discover that Babylon 4 and everyone on it have 'come unstuck in time'. Flashes of the past and possible future disrupt attempts to evacuate before the station can vanish again.

Babylon 4's commanding officer has taken a strange alien called Zathras into custody. This being claims that the station is needed as a base of operations during a great war, although he refuses to tell anyone whether he comes from the past or the future. Left with no choice but to flee the area before they're lost in time again, the survivors depart for Babylon 5. They leave behind a mystery that won't be solved for several years ...

_"This is nuts. A station just doesn't disappear then reappear four years later like some kind of Flying Dutchman."_

**13\. The Day You Come - Powderfinger**

December 31st 2258 is a significant day in the history of Babylon 5 for many reasons. It's the day that Londo Mollari first asks his mysterious new ally Morden for help with a Narn outpost in Quadrant 37. It's the day Jeffrey Sinclair asks his lover Catherine Sakai to marry him. It's the day Ambassador Delenn enters a chrysalis in order to fulfil a Minbari prophecy.

It's also the day Michael Garibaldi discovers a plot to assassinate Earth President Louis Santiago. He's shot in the back just as he learns the truth, and although he manages to remain conscious long enough to warn Sinclair, it's too late to do any good. Earthforce One explodes, killing the president and everyone else aboard. Sinclair and Ivanova can only watch in horror.Following Santiago's death, his deputy Morgan Clark ascends to the presidency. The truth is known to only a few, but there are those who suspect that Clark is the man behind the disaster. In the years to come he will take Earth down a dark road.

_"It is important that we move on to create the world that Louis Santiago would have wanted, for his children, my children, and for posterity yet to come. We will begin by focusing more on the needs of our own people, to sustain them through this difficult time, and to prepare them for the tasks ahead."_

[Season Two: The Coming of Shadows](http://8tracks.com/draste/confessions-lamentations-the-coming-of-shadows)

**1\. Beautiful Strange - Bedrock**

Soon after Santiago is assassinated, Sinclair is abruptly called away from his post and made ambassador to Minbar. His replacement arrives on Babylon 5 to find himself living in interesting times. The head of security is in a coma, G'Kar has left the station without explanation, and Delenn remains sequestered inside her cocoon.

Fortunately, Garibaldi recovers from his injuries with some help from a dangerous alien device. G'Kar returns from his expedition bearing dire predictions about the rise of an ancient force that threatens the galaxy. The new commander survives a rather vigorous protest from some Minbari who don't want John 'Starkiller' Sheridan in charge of the station. In response to this attack, Lennier reveals the true reason the Grey Council called off the war. After examining Jeffrey Sinclair, they came to believe that he was the reincarnation of their greatest spiritual leader, Valen. This lead them to conclude that Minbari souls were being reborn into human bodies, and that by destroying humans they were destroying their own spirits. Sheridan and Ivanova are bemused by this theory, but agree to keep it secret.

Things are returning to what passes for normal on Babylon 5 when Delenn shocks the entire station by emerging from her confinement strangely transformed. She has become a hybrid, half human and half Minbari. Delenn claims that she has modified herself genetically in order to better act as a bridge of peace between their two peoples.

_"What am I?"_

**2\. '64 aka Go - Lemon Jelly**

The son of a diplomat, John Sheridan travelled widely before he joined EarthForce. During the war, he became the only human officer to ever destroy a Minbari warship when he mined an asteroid field and lured the _Black Star_ into a trap. Brasher and less contemplative than his predecessor, Sheridan is a controversial choice to replace Sinclair. He has a long, strange journey to go on as commander of Babylon 5 - and it all begins with meeting Delenn. 

_"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. We cannot escape history. We will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial though which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the last generation. We shall nobly save or meanly lose our last, best hope of Earth ... five minutes to spare."_

**3\. Peace, Love and Understanding - A Perfect Circle**

The station's resident telepath Talia Winters was always loyal to the Corps, but since Jason Ironheart's passing she's been plagued by doubt. Her misgivings are crystallized when she's kidnapped by a group of rogue telepaths who tell her of what they've suffered at the hands of the Corps. Horrified by their stories, she agrees to help them get away from the station. The group is discovered by Psi Cop Alfred Bester, a perennial thorn in the side of Babylon 5's command staff. With Talia's assistance they are able to band together and brainwash Bester into believing that the rogue telepaths have been killed and that Talia herself is still loyal to the Corps. Rebellion isn't going to be easy, though, especially with Bester keeping an eye on the station ...

_"There is a spider in the web, Mr. Garibaldi, and I intend to find it and kill it."_

**4\. Cover Me - Thea Gilmore**

Susan Ivanova has never had warm feelings toward the Psi Corps. Her own mother was a telepath, driven to suicide when she was given power-suppressing drugs. It's hardly surprising that her relationship with Talia Winters didn't get off to a good start. Yet it's that very antipathy toward the Corps that makes Talia turn to Susan when she begins to doubt it herself. Unlikely as it seemed when they first met, the two women become friends - and soon more than friends.

_"I just wanted to say that you were right and I was wrong. About the Corps. I can't go into details but in light of recent events I think we need to re-evaluate our relationship. Which is just a formal way of saying that I need someone to talk to, and strange as this sounds you're the only one I can think of."_

**5\. March From 'The Pines of Rome' - Grimthorpe Colliary Band**

When the Centauri Emperor declares his intention to visit Babylon 5, G'Kar plots to assassinate him. However, Emperor Turhan is old and ill, and collapses before he can make an official appearance. As the Emperor lies dying, G'Kar laments the inconvenience of having his intended victim snatched away at the last moment. His mood changes dramatically when Doctor Franklin arrives with a message from his patient: the Emperor travelled all the way to Babylon 5 so that he could make an official _apology_ to the Narn.

Meanwhile, knowing that the Emperor will not live long, Londo Mollari and his ally Lord Refa are busy manoeuvring themselves into positions of power. When Refa tells Londo that they need to do something dramatic to get the attention of the Centaurum, Londo contacts Morden again, and asks for a strike on a Narn outpost.

Delighted by the Emperor's apology, official or not, G'Kar grabs Londo in the Zocalo and insists on buying him a drink. He tells his rival that there is a spark of decency in the Centauri genetic code after all. Londo accepts with unspoken horror, knowing that he has already thrown away any chance to avoid war between their worlds. Once news of the attack gets out, G'Kar is not only furious, but genuinely hurt by what he sees as a betrayal on Londo's part. The wrath of the Narn people cannot be allayed: they officially declare war on the Centauri.

Emperor Turhan dies, and with his last words declares that Londo Mollari and Lord Refa are both damned. Refa laughs this off as a small price to pay for immortality, but Londo doesn't seem reassured.

_"How will this end?"_

_"In fire."_

**6\. Exile - Enya**

Since her extraordinary transformation, Delenn has been exploring her new connection with humanity – befriending John Sheridan against all the odds and spending more time with Ivanova. Her relationship with her own people, however, has become troubled. The Grey Council summon Delenn to inform her that she is to be removed from their number, an extraordinary decision since positions are normally held for life. In her place they have appointed a member of the Warrior Caste, Neroon, disrupting the traditional balance of the Council. Delenn returns to Babylon 5 disturbed by their decision and uncertain of her path.

_"We no longer know your heart, Delenn. The Council has voted to remove you from our presence."_

**7\. Delicate Particle Logic - Thomas Newman**

However, while her aide is with her, Delenn will never lack support. Following Delenn like a quiet shadow, Lennier sees much and says little. Raised in monastic calm and trained in languages, mathematics and combat techniques, Lennier initially finds Babylon 5 confusing after his sheltered upbringing - but with his ambassador to inspire him, he carries out his duties with skill and devotion.

_"Lennier, for the first time I feel very much alone."_

_"No. Never alone, Delenn. Never alone."_

**8\. Did It Again - Kylie Minogue**

Susan and Talia's blooming relationship is disrupted by the arrival of another telepath on the station, Lyta Alexander. Lyta was assigned to Babylon 5 as resident telepath just after the station went online, but sent back to Earth soon after, when an attempt on his life forced her to read the mind of Ambassador Kosh. Since then, she's been held prisoner and interrogated as the Corps attempts to find out what she knows about the mysterious Vorlons. Now she's escaped and turned rogue, coming to Babylon 5 with news of a Corps sleeper agent somewhere on the station. It turns out that the Psi Corps has developed a way to hide a constructed personality within the mind of an unsuspecting individual. The personality sees and hears everything, but will not come to the surface until a special codeword is sent telepathically into their mind. Fortunately, Lyta has learned this codeword.

For some time, the command staff have been involved in the underground resistance that's forming in response to the disturbing policies of President Clark, so news that they might have been infiltrated is less than welcome. Lyta tests everyone close to authority on the station, but without success - until she gets to Talia Winters. Talia collapses, and moments later the sleeper personality recovers and threatens Lyta Alexander's life, furious that her cover has been blown and her existence revealed ahead of time.

The Talia Winters everyone had come to know - and in some cases to love - is utterly destroyed, leaving behind a vindictive Psi Corps agent who is quickly removed from the station. The experience leaves Susan Ivanova with a broken heart, and one more reason to hate the Corps.

_"You believed everything she said to you. All the things you wanted to hear. All the words I whispered in her thoughts while she lay sleeping. The words that would get her closer to you, and to what you knew. You should see the look on your face, my good and dear friend Susan."_

**9\. Threnody For the Victims of Hiroshima - K. Penderecki**

The Narn-Centauri war has been going badly for the Narn, but they are a proud people who will fight until forced to surrender. The Centauri desire a quick victory, but it does not seem likely that they will get one, until Lord Refa comes up with a plan. He persuades Londo to use his alliance with the Shadows to destroy the majority of the Narn fleet, while the Centauri attack their homeworld. He also orders the use of mass drivers - asteroid-sized objects hurled at a planet from space - to force surrender more quickly with little loss to the Centauri. Londo initially protests that the use of such weapons is illegal, but says nothing to discourage the attack as he watches the bombardment from space.

For four days, destruction rains down on Narn, levelling cities and killing millions, until at last the Kha'Ri have no choice but to give in. Although G'Kar wishes to return home to face the end with his people, he is ordered by his government to seek sanctuary on Babylon 5. Suffering the occupation of his world again, stripped of his ambassadorial office, ejected from the Council Chamber, G'Kar still manages to face the future with immense dignity.

_"Mass drivers? They have been outlawed by every civilised planet."_

_"These are uncivilised times."_

**10\. Seven Nation Army - Nostalgia 77**

While G'Kar - Ambassador no longer - remains on Babylon 5, his aide Na'Toth and many others are left behind on Narn. Na'Toth is presumed killed in the bombing, but actually taken prisoner by the invading Centauri. It will be years before she sees her home, her people or her ambassador again.

_"There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."_

**11\. In The Craters of the Moon - The Mountain Goats**

While the war between the Centauri and the Narn comes to its crisis and the Shadows and Vorlons plot the future in the background, Earth has problems of its own. Since the death of President Santiago the mood there has grown darker and more isolationist with each passing day, and the forces that drive it in that direction are even found on Babylon 5. The Night Watch seems innocuous enough at first, but security aide Zack Allan is going to find out the hard way that their promises come at a price. With the power to spy on anyone and to detain 'subversives' indefinitely without charge or trial, the civil liberties of humans everywhere soon begin to erode. The fifty credits a week starts to weigh heavily on Zack's conscience.

_"Earth wants to throw around its money who am I to say no? Fifty extra credits a week to walk around and do what I do anyway? Why not?"_

**12\. Should I Call You Jesus? - Billie Myers**

Although the war between the Narn and Centauri is over, one Narn cruiser is still free. It comes to Babylon 5 seeking sanctuary in order to make repairs, and Sheridan agrees to allow it to remain. His decision is soon complicated by the arrival of a government representative from Earth, who has come to the station to negotiate a non-aggression treaty with the Centauri. Things only get worse when the Centauri are tipped off about the presence of the Narn ship, and send a ship of their own to attack it. Babylon 5 responds to defend the Narn, and in the ensuing battle the Centauri vessel is destroyed.

This pleases neither Sheridan's superiors nor the Centauri. Earth's government forces Sheridan to formulate an apology to be given before the station's diplomats, but before the captain can make his address, some Centauri attempt to kill him by blowing up one of Babylon 5's internal shuttles. Sheridan notices the bomb in time to jump out of the shuttle, but finds himself falling toward the ground with little hope of survival - until Ambassador Kosh emerges from his encounter suit and flies to the rescue.

John Sheridan perceives Kosh as something resembling an angel, but once he's safely back on the ground he finds that those who witnessed the incident have many conflicting reports of it. Delenn tells Sheridan that, for thousands of years, the Vorlons have visited the younger races, leaving a different image of themselves in the mind of each species. Everyone who saw Kosh saw a being of light out of legend, but only Delenn and Sheridan know the truth behind the projection.

_"It was G'Lan. I saw him with my own eyes, he swooped down as was told in the old stories."_

_"No, not G'Lan. Droshalla, whose light fills the world."_

_"Doesn't matter - it was a good sign for the coming year. This place has been blessed."_

**13\. Not the Red Baron - Tori Amos**

Early in the year, Babylon 5 pilot Warren Keffer saw a mysterious ship in hyperspace. He's been trying to find it again every since, and unluckily for him, he's finally about to succeed. The Shadows destroy Keffer without a second thought, but not before he has recorded footage of their ships, revealing their existence to the public for the first time. The film is quickly pulled, but from this point on, the war will begin to emerge from the darkness and into the light.

_"When our ship encountered a distress beacon attached to an EarthForce recording device, these images, released exclusively to ISN, were found on that recording. Strategic analysts in Earth Dome have indicated they don't know who this new race might be, but promise to find out."_

[Season Three: Point Of No Return](http://8tracks.com/draste/confessions-lamentations-point-of-no-return)

**1\. I Am - Savatage**

For some time, Londo has had doubts about his secretive allies. After the victory against the Narn, he decides that he is no longer comfortable with the association at all, and contacts Morden in order to tell him that their relationship is at an end. Morden agrees to this, after showing Londo a map of the galaxy with a line down the centre, indicating that the Shadows and the Centauri have divided it between them. Londo agrees that the Centauri will not intrude into the Shadow half, but they will continue to expand their empire within these boundaries. As the year goes on, the Shadows will finally show their hand, and prove very successful at turning the many small powers that make up the League of Non-Aligned Worlds against one another. Their goal is to create chaos and division, for reasons of their own.

_"We have what we want. The rest is of no concern to us."_

**2\. Wooden Ships - Nigel Westlake**

The new year brings a new face to Babylon 5. Marcus Cole is a Ranger, part of an elite force trained by the Minbari to fight the Shadows. His devotion to the forces of light is undeniable, fuelled in part by anger towards the Shadows for killing his brother and almost everyone else in the mining colony where Marcus lived. Dashing and skilled, Marcus often seems like a hero out of some far distant time - when he compares himself to Sir Galahad, he's only half-joking.

_"The Minbari taught me, claim victory in your heart and the universe will follow."_

**3\. Wherever You Will Go - Daniel Evans**

Londo Mollari's link to the Shadows has cost him almost all of his friends, taking him down a dark and isolated path to power. Through all he's done, however, his attache Vir Cotto has stuck by him. Even though he disagrees with almost every decision Londo has made over the past three years, he continues to serve him out of loyalty and love, acting as Londo's conscience as well as his diplomatic aide.

The ambassador has come to care for Vir in turn, although he doesn't appreciate his attempts to steer him away from unwise choices. Resenting Vir's criticisms, and also wishing to keep him from harm or corruption, Londo arranges for his aide to become the Centauri Ambassador to Minbar. More worried than ever about his employer and friend, Vir doesn't want to leave, but ultimately he has no choice in the matter.

_"Who will take care of things when I'm gone?"_

**4\. Go With It - David Hobson**

The Narn may have officially surrendered to the Centauri, but G'Kar spent his youth fighting in the resistance to their first occupation. He has no intention of giving up now. Seeking a weapon to use against his enemies, he arranges to buy a sample of the highly illegal human drug Dust, which temporarily grants telepathy to anyone who takes it. The Narn are the only major power in the galaxy who lack telepaths entirely, so nobody knows what effect the substance will have on them. G'Kar decides to test it on himself, and to use his artificially induced powers to interrogate Londo Mollari. He has long suspected that his opposite number has some connection with the mysterious enemies that allowed the Centauri to succeed in several crucial strikes against the Narn.

Forcing his way into Londo's quarters, G'Kar abducts him, beats him, and finally pushes his way into his mind. There he finds the proof he was seeking, and far more, a torrent of sensation that threatens to overwhelm him completely. Then, all of a sudden, the river of Londo's thoughts is stilled, and G'Kar sees a vision of his father. Unbeknownst to G'Kar, Kosh has intervened and entered his mind. Appearing first as his father and then as the Narn mythological being G'Lan, Kosh tells G'Kar that his thirst for vengeance against the Centauri must be laid aside in favour of higher goals.

G'Kar is reborn after this revelation, as a calmer, more spiritual and far happier person. He accepts a term in the station's prison as a chance to think deeply about what he has witnessed and, curiously, never speaks of what he saw inside Londo Mollari's mind. In his cell, G'Kar begins writing a book about his experiences that will prove very influential.

_"You have the opportunity here and now to choose, to become something greater, and nobler, and more difficult than you have been before. The universe does not offer such chances often, G'Kar."_

**5\. Mona Ki Ngi Xica (To the Child I'm Leaving Behind) - Bonga**

The situation on Earth has not improved in the years since President Clark took control of the planet, and in 2260 he declares martial law and dissolves the Senate in response to allegations about a conspiracy against the government. Clark's followers attempt to take control of the station, too, but Sheridan manages to hang onto command until Earthforce ships loyal to the President arrive on the doorstep.

Faced with a choice between fighting against their own people and surrendering to face court martial, the command staff are caught between a rock and a hard place. With the Shadows on the move, Sheridan and others decide that they have no choice but to stand against the darkness on all fronts. With the Minbari protecting them, they are able to secede from the Earth Alliance and declare Babylon 5 a sovereign nation. Their conviction is firm, but their hearts are heavy.

_"That's what makes this war different from anything we've ever gone through before. This time, we know everyone we kill."_

**6\. The Great Beyond - REM**

Sheridan and Delenn have built an alliance against the Shadows, but their task has not been an easy one. The Centauri are only making the situation worse, the Narn are occupied and powerless, the Minbari divided amongst themselves. The Non-Aligned worlds have been encouraged into war with one another by the Shadows, and pulling them together into a cohesive force is a Herculean task. The Vorlons have worked against their old enemies behind the scenes, but have refused to act openly even as Shadow attacks against targets across the galaxy increase steadily.

Kosh has given help and cryptic advice to Sheridan, and in his own bizarre way has trained him 'to fight legends', but the captain decides that this isn't enough any more. In desperation, he confronts Kosh and demands that the Vorlons enter the fight directly, as a demonstration to the Non-Aligned worlds that the opposition to the Shadows is powerful enough to be worth joining. Kosh reacts badly to Sheridan's impudence, but eventually he agrees to do as the human asks. He warns that the consequences for Sheridan himself will be dire, but the captain agrees to pay any price necessary.

As good as his word, Kosh arranges for a Vorlon fleet to confront and attack the Shadows when they next reveal themselves. Satisfied but exhausted, Sheridan goes to bed and has a strange dream about his father. He realises as he wakes that it was sent by Kosh, a final message - the Shadows have responded to the Vorlon strike on their ships by attacking and killing the Vorlon ambassador. Sheridan finally understands that Kosh's reluctance to act came from fear, not anger.

The lessons that Kosh gave Sheridan about achieving the impossible remain - and perhaps that's not all that the Vorlon has left behind.

_"As long as you're here, I'll always be here."_

**7\. Wise Up - Aimee Mann**

Once allies, Londo Mollari and Lord Refa have fallen out over Refa's recent alliance with Morden and his associates. In order to force Refa to break off this relationship and stop the Centauri's endless expansionism - both of which Londo has come to see as ill-advised - Londo has dosed Refa with half of a poisonous compound, threatening to make sure he receives the other half if he remains allied with Mr. Morden. When Londo's lover Adira Tyree is fatally poisoned herself, Londo naturally assumes that Refa has taken his revenge. What he doesn't know is that Adira was actually killed by _Morden_ , in an effort to make Londo an ally of the Shadows once more. The stratagem works, and Londo is soon asking them for help once again …

_"Everyone around me dies, Mr. Morden. Except the ones that most deserve it. That is about to change. You said that you would go away for as long as I wanted. I no longer want that. All I want now is revenge. They took from me the one thing that I have ever truly loved. And you will help me, Mr. Morden, to strike them down. Give me this and the safety of my people and let the rest of the galaxy burn. I don't care anymore."_

**8\. That's Where I Belong - Paul Simon**

Sheridan is surprised when his predecessor Jeffrey Sinclair appears on the station and requests his help. Sinclair and Delenn have both received letters - written one thousand years ago, but in strangely familiar handwriting. There are more temporal disturbances in the area of space where Babylon 4 vanished.

Once Sheridan is aboard the White Star, Delenn reveals the nature of their task: they are to enter a time rift and steal Babylon 4. The station is needed urgently one thousand years in the past, as a base of operations for the last Shadow War. If it is not transported, its absence will change the timeline. The Shadows will have emerged from the last war stronger than they should be, and will use their greater power to destroy Babylon 5.

Startled to discover that _they_ are the ones responsible for stealing Babylon 4, Sheridan nevertheless agrees to help. The crew of the White Star battle time disruption and disturbing visions of their own futures as they try to avoid the crew of Babylon 4 and the past versions of Garibaldi and Sinclair. They survive, but a temporal accident leaves Sinclair prematurely aged, unable to return to his own time lest he die in minutes.

As the crew finish preparing the station, Sinclair reveals what he read in his letter: he will never go home. Instead, he will travel into the past along with Babylon 4. In order to gain the acceptance of the Minbari there, he transforms himself with the same process Delenn used. Jeffrey Sinclair is not the reincarnation of Valen in human form, he _is_ Valen. He will not only help the Minbari and Vorlons win the Shadow War, he will transform Minbari society, found the Rangers, and ensure that human DNA is intermingled with that of Delenn's people forever.

_"All my life, I've had doubts about who I am, where I belong. Now I'm like the arrow that springs from the bow - no hesitation, no doubts. The path is clear."_

**9\. Ibuki - Yoshida Brothers**

The Rangers are in need of a new leader now that Sinclair is gone, and everyone looks to Delenn. But some in the Warrior Caste do not approve. Neroon, who has already taken her place on the Grey Council, sees Delenn as a dangerous religious zealot. He comes to Babylon 5 to stop her induction as Ranger One, at any cost. A Minbari cannot fight against Neroon without creating disruption between the castes – but Marcus Cole is both a Ranger and human.

Despite his strength in battle, Marcus is no match for one of Minbar's greatest warriors – but Neroon is impressed by the loyalty Delenn has inspired in him, and realises that the Rangers would not fight for him with the same devotion. Having beaten Marcus to a pulp, Neroon quits the field and concedes leadership of the Rangers to Delenn for good.

_"During the war, I killed fifty thousand of you. What's one more?"_

**10\. Run, Mourner, Run - Sweet Honey in the Rock**

Grief-stricken after Adira's death, Londo decides that it's time to put an end to his rival Lord Refa, and the Shadows aren't working fast enough. Offering to help the Centauri Court solve a 'little problem' it's been having for some time, he forces Vir to go to G'Kar and tell him that his aide Na'Toth is alive, and being held prisoner on Narn. G'Kar will be forced to leave the sanctuary of Babylon 5 for the first time since the end of the Narn-Centauri War in order to look for her. Londo tells Vir that he will have forces waiting to capture G'Kar and take him back to Centauri Prime in chains.

Hearing that Londo has plans to advance himself, Lord Refa kidnaps Vir, and uses a telepath to question him. He travels to Narn with a squadron of soldiers himself. While he finds G'Kar and his band of Narns easily enough, Refa is in for a shock when G'Kar produces a holographic recording of Londo Mollari. The Narn has been in on Londo's _real_ plan all along, having entered into a temporary alliance with his enemy in order to destroy the man who ordered the use of mass drivers on his world. The guards Refa brought with him have all been thoroughly bribed. The Narns beat Refa to death, and plant evidence on his body linking him to the Narn resistance. Londo tells his superiors that Refa was attempting to 'play both sides against the middle' but failed.

When Vir learns the truth behind Londo's plan, he is furious that he was used to feed Refa false information. Londo dismisses his concerns - to him, revenge on the person responsible for Adira's death is worth anything. It's really too bad that he's just had the wrong man killed.

_"You see, it is not enough for me to simply kill you, Refa. I could do that at home, or here. But through your death on Narn, I will discredit your House, and all opposition in the Royal Court. Goodbye."_

**11\. Rachel's Theme - Vangelis**

Doctor Stephen Franklin has always done his best to be the calm, professional centre of the maelstrom that is Babylon 5, but over the years the pressure wore down his defences. He began taking 'stims' - stimulant drugs used by those in demanding positions to keep awake and alert - eventually abusing them to the point where the addiction seriously affected his behaviour. When Garibaldi (a recovered alcoholic who recognises the signs in others) confronted him, Franklin was forced to admit to himself that he has a problem, and took a leave of absence from his job before he could be forced out.

Franklin is a Foundationist, a follower of a relatively new Earth religion that borrows traditions from many cultures. From Aboriginal Australia it takes the practice of 'walkabout', and Franklin decides to wander the corridors of Babylon 5 until he meets himself. Presumably this is a figurative process for most Foundationists, but when Franklin is seriously wounded by some thugs, he literally sees himself. The hallucination - if it is a hallucination - is less than impressed with the way his alter ego has handled his life up to this point, but his scathing criticism forces Franklin to stagger to his feet and go in search of help. He refuses to die before he has a chance to make things better.

_"The theory is, if you're separated from yourself, you start walking and you keep walking until you meet yourself. Then you sit down, and you have a long talk. Talk about everything that you've learned, everything that you've felt, and you talk until you've run out of words. Now, that's vital, because the real important things can't be said. And then, if you're lucky, you look up, and there's just you. Then you can go home."_

**12\. Gravity - Vienna Teng**

Two years before he came to Babylon 5, John Sheridan's wife Anna was killed during an expedition to the Rim, when her ship supposedly exploded with all hands aboard. It wasn't until he came to the station and encountered Morden that Sheridan learned that the truth had been hidden from him - Morden, too, was aboard the Icarus, but survived. It was then that Kosh and Delenn told him what really happened. The Icarus was the first ship in a thousand years to visit the Shadows' homeworld, Z'Ha'Dum, and the crew was accidentally responsible for awakening the Shadows themselves from their long hibernation. When told that all those among the crew who would not serve the Shadows were killed, Sheridan knew that his wife truly was gone.

Over time, he has started to accept the loss, and become steadily closer to Ambassador Delenn. Just as they start to directly admit their feelings for one another, and begin the Minbari rituals necessary to formalize their new relationship, Anna Sheridan appears on the station. More shocked than overjoyed, Sheridan demands an explanation from everyone. Anna tells him that she's been working with the Shadows on Z'Ha'Dum since her disappearance, and that he's been mislead by the Vorlons about their true nature. She refuses to tell him any more unless he goes to Z'Ha'Dum with her.

Sheridan is horrified that Delenn and Kosh didn't tell him that Anna could be alive, and Delenn is heartbroken when he leaves.

_"John, I do love you. If you believe nothing else I ever say, please. Please believe that."_

**13\. Here's Johnny - Hocus Pocus**

Kosh told Sheridan twice that if he went to Z'Ha'Dum, he would die. But the captain has to know the truth, regardless of the danger. He travels to the Shadow homeworld with Anna and meets with Morden and a man called Justin, who explain the Shadow's side of the story. The Vorlons and Shadows are not forces of Good and Evil, but of Order and Chaos. When most of the old and powerful First Ones left the galaxy, they remained behind to guide the younger races. At first, did this peacefully, but eventually the ideological conflict between them lead to war, as each side tried to prove their methods correct. The Shadows deliberately promote chaos and conflict everywhere they go, believing that it encourages the evolution of stronger species. The Vorlons think that strength is to be found in rules and order. Both sides have manipulated the younger races into doing their fighting for them, not wishing to engage one another directly.

Justin and Morden ask Sheridan to join their side, but Sheridan refuses, and tells them that he knows the truth - the woman sent to Babylon 5 to bring him here is not the Anna he knew. The Shadow agents admit that she was modified, her original personality destroyed, before they realised how important she might be in the coming war. When they attempt to force him to do as they've asked, Sheridan fights his way free, and puts his secret plan into action. He came to Z'Ha'Dum knowing that it was a trap, in a ship filled with two nuclear bombs. He remotely directs his White Star to crash into the Shadow city, and moments before it plunges to the ground he hears Kosh's voice, telling him to leap into the yawning chasm before him ...

_"Jump. Jump, now!"_

[Season Four: No Surrender, No Retreat](http://8tracks.com/draste/confessions-lamentations-no-surrender-no-retreat)

**1\. Raining Blood - Tori Amos**

Sheridan's actions on Z'Ha'Dum have left the galaxy in disarray. The Shadows have withdrawn from their last attack on Babylon 5, kidnapping Garibaldi in the process. The alliance against them hangs in the balance, as many argue that this withdrawal means they should do nothing, hoping that the war is over for another thousand years. Ivanova, Delenn and the telepath Lyta Alexander travel to Z'Ha'Dum to search for any sign Sheridan might have survived, but find nothing at all. Those who loved John Sheridan begin to accept that they cannot surrender to grief, because they have to finish what he started.

Meanwhile, the new Vorlon Ambassador - who also claims to be called Kosh - is refusing to help Delenn and the others, or to tell them what the Vorlons will do in response to this new turn of events. Lyta has been working as the Vorlons' diplomatic aide since they helped her after she fled the Psi Corps, and now she suspects that they have dark plans of their own.

_"It's the time between three and four in the morning, when you can't sleep, and all you can see is the troubles and the problems, and the ways that your life should have gone, but didn't. All you can hear is the sound of your own heart. I've been living in the hour of the wolf for seven days."_

**2\. Maps and Legends - REM**

The rumours of John Sheridan's death have been greatly exaggerated - or at least he'd like to think so. After jumping into the chasm just before the explosion on Z'Ha'Dum, Sheridan found himself in a mysterious, red-tinged landscape. There he meets a strange being called Lorien, who claims to have been one of the first living things in the universe. Whether or not this is true, he's certainly very old and very powerful. He may even be able to help John get over his slight case of death ...

_"I am the last, and ... I was the first."_

**3\. For We Are the King of the Boudoir - The Magnetic Fields**

Londo Mollari has been summoned away from Babylon 5 by Emperor Cartagia, a man he has not seen since long before his ascension to power. Londo is horrified to find that the monarch he and Lord Refa plotted to place on the throne is completely insane. He has made an alliance with the Shadows, and agreed to allow them to land their ships on Centauri Prime. Anyone who speaks out against him is quickly beheaded, which has made the Centaurum and the Royal Court understandably reluctant to criticise his decisions.

Londo may be appalled at what has happened to Centauri Prime under Cartagia's rule, but the Emperor seems to have considerable fondness for Londo. To express his affection, he gives the Ambassador a present: Citizen G'Kar, conveniently wrapped in chains. The Narn left Babylon 5 once again, this time to look for his lost friend Mr. Garibaldi, and was captured by Centauri forces. Londo seems less than thrilled to see G'Kar at the mercy of the mad Emperor, but thanks Cartagia politely anyway. In his mind, a plan to save his world begins to form.

_"I like you. I like you a great deal, did you know that? I feel we have so much in common."_

**4\. Forty Lashes - Wynton Marsalis**

Londo has decided that the only way to save his people from the monster on the throne is to remove it, but he cannot accomplish this alone. He visits G'Kar's prison cell and asks for his help to destroy another mutual enemy. G'Kar agrees, but on the condition that once the Emperor is dead, the Centauri will end their occupation of Narn.

Cartagia has been entertaining himself by tormenting and torturing the Narn. G'Kar responds to every humiliation and agony with nothing but stoic silence, until the Emperor is driven to distraction. He tells Londo that if G'Kar does not give him a scream, he will be forced to have him killed at once, instead of waiting on a trial and proper execution. G'Kar's trial is essential to Londo's plans, and he angrily tells his co-conspirator that he needs 'a live ally, not a dead martyr'.

Cartagia forces the issue, inviting Londo to watch as he has G'Kar flogged with an electric whip that will kill him at the fortieth stroke. He tells G'Kar that the flogging will stop as soon as he screams. Londo can only look on and silently beg G'Kar to do as Cartagia wants, to give up his pride, his very identity as a Narn warrior. G'Kar refuses to make a sound until the thirty-ninth stroke, but at last his desire to set his people free wins out.

G'Kar's sacrifice is not in vain. Londo's plan to kill the Emperor succeeds, and the Centauri are free of both their mad ruler and the Shadows. Londo keeps his word, and Narn is liberated. Seeing G'Kar tortured and narrowly avoiding the destruction of his world has made a deep impression on him - he has changed for the better, and come to regret many past mistakes.

_"We do not oblige conquerors. If I give him what he wants - if I beg for mercy, cry out, I would no longer be a Narn."_

_"And if you are dead, are you still a Narn then?"_

**5\. Going Home - Mark Knopfler**

Lorien tells John Sheridan that he is indeed quite dead. Fortunately, this is nothing the powerful Lorien can't fix. Before anything can be done, however, Sheridan must let go - jump off another metaphorical cliff and find something worth living for. Thinking of Delenn, Sheridan releases the half-life he's been clinging to.

Back on the station, things are not going well. Garibaldi has been recovered, but his captors' ship was destroyed before anyone could question them. Garibaldi claims that he doesn't remember anything about his captivity, but he's troubled by mysterious flashes of memory. Delenn is finding it almost impossible to convince the other worlds that they must attack Z'Ha'Dum now, if they are to have any hope of surviving the next Shadow assault. Several of the ambassadors representing the Non-Aligned worlds hold a public meeting, declaring that this is folly, as nobody has ever returned from the planet alive ... and right in the middle of it, John Sheridan walks in.

Rallying the assembled crowd, Sheridan tells them that they can end the threat of the Shadows, not just for the next thousand years, but forever.

_"Captain ... we're sorry, we thought you were dead."_

_"I was. I'm better now."_

**6\. Just Another Beautiful Story – Regurgitator**

The joy of Sheridan's return is soon tarnished, when Marcus and Ivanova return to tell the others that they've discovered a Vorlon fleet traveling through hyperspace. The havoc Sheridan caused on Z'Ha'Dum has given the Vorlons a window of opportunity, and they have decided to use it to remove any trace of Shadow influence from the galaxy - by destroying any planet or colony where that influence is found.

Showing their true colours at last, the Vorlons sweep across the galaxy, killing millions in their quest to expunge all trace of the Shadows. Soon the Shadows begin to retaliate. Fortunately, Sheridan has a plan.

He lures the Shadows and Vorlons to Coriana VI, along with the fleet he has assembled. Both sides try to convince Sheridan and Delenn to join them. They refuse, telling the Shadows, the Vorlons and all those listening that they will no longer fight for anyone. Sheridan tells them that they are like parents asking their children to pick sides in an argument between adults - and the children won't participate in their games any more. Their conflict rendered pointless, the Vorlons and Shadows agree to go with Lorien beyond the Rim.

Free at last from the domination of the ancient and powerful races, the younger species look to a future they will create for themselves - for better or for worse.

_"It feels like the magic's gone."_

_"No, not gone. Now we make our own magic."_

**7\. Karjalainen kehtolaulu (Lullaby) – Varttina**

The Shadow War may be over forever, but that doesn't mean the inhabitants of Babylon 5 can look forward to peace and quiet. When the Grey Council decided to stand idly by as the Shadows attacked other worlds, Delenn convinced the Religious and Worker Castes to stand with her in spite of the Warrior Caste, breaking the Council as was foretold by Valen.

The Grey Council had ruled Minbar for a thousand years, providing balance between the three segments of their society. Since it was dissolved, the tension between the Warrior and Religious Castes has been growing, and in 2261 it spills over into open warfare. Delenn returns home, wracked by guilt that she neglected a problem that she caused in the first place. With the help of an old rival, Neroon of the Warrior Caste, she manages to find a solution and restore peace to her world, but Neroon sacrifices his life in the process.

_"I think of my beautiful city in flames, Lennier. The streets where I walked, the temples, the great crystal spires that sighed music whenever the wind touched them. I think of it, and I cry, Lennier. And I wonder, did I do this?"_

**8\. Make You Feel My Love - Luka Bloom**

Almost since he arrived on the station in early 2260, Marcus Cole has been in love with Susan Ivanova. Ivanova has deflected his chivalrous advances, wary of being hurt yet again, and Marcus has never found the right moment to declare his feelings. His love for her might remain unspoken, but Marcus would do anything for Susan Ivanova.

Anything at all.

_"I want this thing to go right. I want it to be special."_

_"Oh, a romantic. I don't think I've felt that way since the first time."_

_"That's what I'm talking about."_

**9\. We Can Work It Out – PFR**

Since Emperor Cartagia was killed and Narn was set free, G'Kar has done his best to avoid Londo Mollari – not the easiest of tasks when they still have to act as ambassadors for their respective worlds. Now Londo wants G'Kar's help again, to support the humans of Babylon 5 in their conflict with the Earth government. G'Kar intitially refuses to sign the same directive as Londo, even in a good cause, but after some consideration he relents. It's only the first sign that their relationship is taking another of its strange turns.

By the end of the year, the two of them are bickering like old friends - or perhaps just very old enemies.

_"Isn't it amazing how quickly we fall into familiar patterns as soon as we come into one another's orbit? Like comets that flare when they get too near the sun. I did not come here to spar with you, G'Kar. I came to talk to you."_

**10\. Pull Up the People – M.I.A.**

Earth is, if anything, more torn apart by conflict than Minbar. The human crew were distracted from their problems back home by the events of the Shadow War, but they begin to work against President Clark in earnest after that conflict is settled. When they find out that he has ordered Earthforce destroyers to fire on civilian ships, they can no longer do their work quietly. Sheridan declares open war on the dictator - but he wants a clean fight.

Looking for allies, Franklin and Marcus Cole travel to Mars to meet with the heads of the Mars Resistance. They have been seeking independence from Earth for year, sometimes through violent attacks on civilian targets - but Franklin and Marcus manage to convince the codenamed leader Number One that they will be better served by allying with Sheridan's war effort.

_"A call takes ten seconds. Do you know what I can do to you in ten seconds? In ten seconds I can cripple you for life. In ten seconds I can break your skull open and scoop out your brains for cat food! I've got ten dead civilians on the deck, Phillipe and they're going to hold me responsible."_

**11\. You're the Voice - John Farnham**

Although Clark's propaganda insists that Sheridan's opposition to his rule is the product of alien influence, Sheridan doesn't want any other species heavily involved in the battle to restore democracy to Earth. There are still some free ships who broke away from Earthforce when Clark declared martial law, and Sheridan soon begins to persuade others to his side. However, not everyone is going to fall into line without argument ...

_"Our mandate is to defend Earth against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Now Clark has become that enemy."_

**12\. Sober – Tool**

Ever since his unexplained imprisonment, Garibaldi has been acting strangely. He quit his job as head of security after the war, and set up as a private eye. Through his increasingly fractious behaviour he's isolated himself from almost all his friends. Above all, he distrusts the messianic aura that has gathered around John Sheridan since he returned from Z'Ha'Dum.

Garibaldi meets a former lover, Lise Hampton-Edgars, whose husband wants to hire him for several secret jobs. William Edgars, a rich businessman, employs Garibaldi exclusively and invites him to come to Mars. Garibaldi has bad memories of the red planet, but agrees. Once he's there, however, Edgars will only drop hints about his true motivations, wanting a sign of loyalty.

Sheridan's war is proving inconvenient for Edgars and many of his associates, and they would appreciate it if the source of their problem disappeared. Edgars asks Garibaldi to help capture his former commander. He helps the government find and imprison Sheridan's father, then lures the man himself to Mars. Sheridan is thrown into prison and tortured.

Edgars now trusts Garibaldi with his secret. He believes war between those with telepathy and those without is inevitable, so he's been working on a deadly virus that will infect only telepaths.

Upon leaving Edgars' home, Garibaldi is contacted by Alfred Bester. He takes the details from Garibaldi's mind and tells him the truth. When he was captured by the Shadows, Bester managed to divert Garibaldi into the custody of the Psi Corps, who brainwashed him, turning him into an instrument to track down Edgars' conspiracy. Feeling magnanimous (or perhaps especially vindictive) Bester decides to set Garibaldi free with his memory restored. Beyond horrified, Garibaldi races to tell Sheridan's allies of his whereabouts, but he may be too late to save the man he betrayed.

_"We don't have to reprogram him, just accentuate his natural instincts: more rebellious, more stubborn, more suspicious."_

**13\. Allegro con fuoco from 'Aus der Neuen Welt' - Antonin Dvorak**

Sheridan may have been taken out of the game, but if President Clark thought _that_ would stop the fleet of renegade Earthforce ships, he was sorely mistaken. Under the leadership of Susan Ivanova it continues its progress toward Earth, destroying or recruiting Clark's fleet as it goes. The alien diplomats on Babylon 5 agree that their worlds will also commit forces to the fight to free Sheridan's planet, in return for his help during the Shadow War.

Clark lays an ambush for the fleet at a rendezvous point, with new ships built using Shadow technology. Ivanova learns of this ahead of time and takes the White Star fleet to meet them head on. They confront and attack the new destroyers, and manage to win, but during the battle Ivanova herself is mortally wounded. Sheridan, freed from prison with Garibaldi's help, takes control of the fleet again. Ivanova is returned to Babylon 5, where she can die in relative comfort. Sheridan continues onwards to Earth, and achieves victory against Clark, restoring the Senate and democratic rule.

Marcus Cole still holds out a slim hope that Susan might recover. A chance word from Lennier, intended to discourage him, leads Marcus to investigate the station records and learn of the alien healing device, earlier used to bring Garibaldi out of his coma. Racing against time, he reaches the station and forces his way to Ivanova's side while she still lives. But the amount of life energy required to restore a dying woman to health is enormous ...

_"Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander, daughter of Andre and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is gonna kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart. I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."_

[Season Five: The Wheel of Fire](http://8tracks.com/draste/confessions-lamentations-the-wheel-of-fire)

**1\. A New Beginning - Good Charlotte**

The opening of 2262 brings many changes to Babylon 5. John Sheridan has been discharged from Earthforce for his part in the rebellion against Clark. Out of the bonds between the alien races that formed during the Shadow War and the war against Clark, an official Interstellar Alliance has grown - and Sheridan is to be appointed as their first president. He has also - finally - married Delenn. Garibaldi is once more in a relationship with Lise Hampton-Edgars, who was widowed after the Psi Corps killed her husband. Ivanova and Marcus are both gone, and the station has a new commander in the shape of Captain Elizabeth Lochley. To the surprise of everyone – most of all themselves - Londo Mollari and G'Kar have somehow managed to turn their alliance of political convenience into genuine friendship. The only wrinkle in the preparations for Sheridan's inauguration comes in the form of a group of human telepaths fleeing the Psi Corps, who seek sanctuary on Babylon 5. Lochley refuses their request, but is overruled by Sheridan in his capacity as president elect.

The relative quiet doesn't last for long, as the inauguration ceremony is interrupted by an assassin who blames Sheridan for deposing Clark and destroying his life. It's going to be another one of those years.

_"You want to be president?"_

_"Yes"_

_"Put your hand on the book and say 'I do'."_

_"I do."_

_"Fine, done. Let's eat."_

**2\. Too Much Love Will Kill You – Queen**

Londo Mollari has had a hard few years, and this one isn't going to be any easier. Especially since it begins with him having a serious heart-attack. Hanging onto life by a thread, Londo sees his past and future, unable to decide whether to struggle and live or give into the easy embrace of death. Visions of Sheridan and Delenn offer cryptic glimpses of the future, while G'Kar excoriates him for his mistakes and Vir tries to convince him to accept them and live.

In the end, Vir wins the argument. Londo's heart begins beating, and as he regains consciousness he finally apologises to G'Kar for all that he's done. Obviously affected, G'Kar leaves without a word. But Vir - the _real_ Vir - is there as always, keeping watch over Londo. Londo's trials aren't over yet, but he has at least decided to face them rather than running away.

_"All of the bottles here are empty? The metaphor's getting a bit thick, don't you think?"_

**3\. Halloween - The Dead Kennedys**

Elizabeth Lochley is a woman with a forceful personality, who initially has a few problems getting used to the chaos of Babylon 5. She has a strong attachment to the rules - but that wasn't always the case.

The Brakiri are about to celebrate a festival called the Day of the Dead, and insist that they must buy part of the station for that one night. Believing this to be a metaphor, Lochley agrees to this in spite of G'Kar's warnings. The residents of Babylon 5 are used to unusual occurrences, but even they are surprised when the Day of the Dead turns out to be a more literal event than they could have imagined. Cut off from the rest of Babylon 5 by a mysterious barrier, those who are within the Brakiri part of that station are visited by people they know who have died.

Lochley is startled when her friend Zoe, killed by a drug overdose twenty years before, appears in her quarters. The two of them discuss their wild youth, and Lochley's friend is confused by the conservative, conformist officer her friend has become. Lochley explains that she stopped taking drugs and enlisted in EarthForce after losing Zoe, an event that altered her life completely. The brief visit brings back the pain, but also allows her to make peace with her loss.

_"Jeez, Lizzie, what'd you grow up to be?"_

**4\. Stars – Philip Quast**

The colony of telepaths that Sheridan allowed to settle on Babylon 5 over Lochley's objections have proved to be nothing but trouble. Lyta Alexander has found shelter and companionship with her fellows, and love with their leader Byron, but most people on the station just want them gone. Byron attemps to blackmail the alien diplomats into giving them a homeworld, but the Interstellar Alliance is distracted by other problems and refuses their demands. Most of the telepaths barricade themselves into Brown Sector and begin a hunger strike, but some of Byron's followers give up his doctrine of non-violence and decide to fight for what they want.

Lochley has no choice but to call in the help of the Psi Cops under the leadership of Alfred Bester. Byron is in fact a former Psi Cop himself, and was once Bester's protégée before his superior's actions disgusted him to the point where he fled the Corps altogether. Bester who - for all his flaws - genuinely believes in the Psi Corps, attempts to reason with Byron and then to take him in alive.

_"The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. In that way, these are our children who have gone astray. We have to at least try to bring them in alive, so that we can correct their thinking."_

**5\. Dante's Prayer – Loreena McKennitt**

Perhaps inevitably, Byron refuses to return to the aegis of the Psi Corps, and sees no way out except death. He sends Lyta away, insisting that somebody must survive to fight for the freedom they both believe in. Lyta walks away from the conflagration that consumes Byron, but her struggle won't be one of peaceful hunger strikes and protest songs: Lyta Alexander has finally had enough.

_"How can I leave you? I'm already gone. It's too late for me but not for the others. They are my life's work and my redemption for sins past. You cannot save my life but you can save my soul."_

**6\. If I Could - October Project**

For almost as long as he has known her, Lennier has served Ambassador Delenn out of love as well as loyalty. Although he once told Marcus that his feelings for her were chaste and pure, he has begun to find it almost impossible to be close to her and yet impossibly far away, especially now that she has married Sheridan. Seeking a way to serve her without being constantly in her presence, he leaves Babylon 5 to join the Rangers. This will not change his feelings for her, however, or make it any easier for him to live with them. When told by someone with the ability to see the future that he will one day betray the Rangers, Lennier dismisses the prophecy, but there is something he loves even more than duty ...

_"Delenn does not love you as you love her, and she never will."_

_"I know that."_

_"No, you don't. Not in your heart - that's the problem, you see."_

**7\. Vivacissimo from Symphony No. 2 - Jean Sibelius**

When Londo Mollari threw the Shadows off Centauri Prime, Morden promised him that there were others who would take revenge. Londo is about to find out that there is still a price that he and his world must pay for all they have done.

After Cartagia's death, a Regent was installed until the succession could be determined in the absence of an heir. The Regent has hardly proved more stable than Cartagia, although at least his form of madness does not involve frequent executions. His health is also fragile, and the Centaurum has now chosen Londo to be the next Emperor. Concerned by the Regent's behaviour and other odd rumours, Londo attempted to investigate his homeworld, but found nothing conclusive.

Meanwhile, there have been a series of attacks on the shipping lanes of members of the Interstellar Alliance. The unexplained strikes have threatened to tear the fledgling organisation apart, as its members accuse one another of responsibility. When investigations seem to reveal that the Centauri are behind everything, all hell breaks loose. Sheridan counsels a cautious response, but forces within the Alliance who already have reason to distrust the Centauri go behind his back and plan to attack Centauri Prime.

Londo, who knew nothing of any such attacks, returns home to find out the truth, accompanied by G'Kar. There he finally discovers what is going on: the Drahk, allies of the Shadows who have no home since the destruction of Z'Ha'Dum in the wake of the Shadow War, have settled on his world. They have taken control of the Regent using a symbiotic creature called a Keeper, and they want revenge on Londo and the Centauri people. They have switched off the planetary defence grid, allowing the rogue Alliance forces to begin bombing Centauri Prime without opposition. The Drahk also reveal that they have planted fusion bombs across the planet, and that if Londo does not do as they ask and accept a Keeper himself, they will use these to kill millions. Backed into a corner, Londo has no choice but to accept his fate - but there is something that he must do first.

For all the blood between their peoples, for all that they have done to one another, Londo and G'Kar have grown close. Londo cannot meet his destiny without first saying a proper farewell to his companion. He can't tell G'Kar the truth about what is about to happen to him - the Drahk work in secret, and anyone who discovers them might be killed. In order to protect those he loves, Londo Mollari must isolate himself completely. Nevertheless, G'Kar tells Londo that he understands why they must now part, and offers him something he has never been able to give anyone: forgiveness for what was done to him and to his people.

His last moment of freedom well spent, Londo finally accepts the consequences of his actions, with extraordinary grace and courage.

_"Isn't it strange, G'Kar. When we first met, I had no power and all the choices I could ever want, and now I have all the power I could ever want and no choices at all. No choice at all."_

**8\. Berceuse Pour Un Lion - Daniel Lavoie**

Now subject to the control of the Drahk Keeper, Londo must go along with their plans for Centauri Prime. The attacks on Alliance shipping lanes that caused the war are blamed on the hapless and now deceased Regent, ending the conflict but still leaving the planet in ruins. The Centauri are now as the Drahk need them to be: a beaten and resentful people who will need to spend years rebuilding. Manipulated by his Keeper, Londo feeds the anger of his people, which surprises and upsets Sheridan, Delenn and others who know him.

Londo Mollari has always desired power, but as he walks to his coronation through the ruins of his world, and sits on his throne in the dark, he knows that has lost more in its pursuit than he has ever gained. He will suffer terribly every day for the last fifteen years of his life - but he will not suffer for nothing. One day, he will make one more sacrifice for his beloved Centauri Prime.

_"We are alone. Alone in the universe."_

**9\. Control – Poe**

Lyta Alexander has been used, abused, abandoned and ignored for too long. The powers that the Vorlons gifted her with are growing, fuelled the anger that has been consuming her since Byron's death. The station isn't big enough for a phoenix about to hatch, and while not unsympathetic to her problems, John Sheridan can't allow her to remain there.

Fortunately, Lyta isn't the only person who needs to get off the station in a hurry. Her fight with the Psi Corps has only just begun, however, and in years to come it seems likely that everyone will learn exactly what she's capable of.

_"I'm tired of being pushed around, Captain. I do not choose to be arrested. I've done a lot for this place. Just once, I think a little gratitude would be in order, don't you?"_

**10\. Bring It On – Killer**

G'Kar's reputation as a religious authority has been growing ever since he first attained enlightenment and began writing _The Book of G'Kar_ , but when he returns from Centauri Prime, he finds that he has gained an entire legion of followers. Fearing that he would never come back from the home world of their historical enemies, his followers printed and distributed his work among Narns everywhere – and now everybody wants a piece of the prophet.

G'Kar has no choice but to leave the station, but he leaves the role of Narn ambassador in the safe hands of his follower Ta'Lon. The Narn people have suffered much in the past five years, but like G'Kar, those that remain step forward into the future stronger and wiser for it.

_"We are all the sum of our tears. Too little, and the ground is not fertile and nothing can grow there. Too much, the best of us is washed away. My rains have come and gone for now. Yours are just beginning."_

**11\. The Bug - Dire Straits**

Michael Garibaldi's life has been through many ups and downs, and in the aftermath of Bester's manipulation of him, there are more downs than ups.

Sheridan forgives him and offers him another job on the station, and his friends begin to accept him back into their lives. However, when Garibaldi discovers that Bester left psychic blocks in his mind that prevent him taking revenge on the telepath, he begins drinking. His alcohol problem causes trouble for everyone around him, and even has a ripple effect on the war between the Interstellar Alliance and the Centauri. Out of control, Garibaldi almost ruins his life completely all over again.

Luckily, he's surrounded by people who love him. Sheridan is disappointed rather than angry when he finds out what's going on, and is reluctantly forced to fire him. His lover Lise Hampton-Edgars comes to the station to support him, and he two of them manage to make an official commitment for the first time. Garibaldi starts to pull himself back together under her good influence, and agrees to go back to Mars and help Lise to run William Edgars' business empire - a happy ending for the last man who ever expected one.

_"I just thought that before the universe threw us anything else, that we should get married."_

**12\. Gracias a la Vida - Mercedes Sosa**

Although Lorien was able to bring John Sheridan back to life when he was killed on Z'Ha'Dum, Sheridan has known since then that the effect was strictly limited. He was given twenty years to live, and eventually he feels the end drawing near.

Twenty years after the end of the Shadow War, Sheridan's remaining loved ones gather together to say their bittersweet farewells. He does not want to die on Minbar, where he has made his home for the past two decades. Instead, he says an emotional goodbye to his beloved wife and sets out on a 'Sunday drive' through space. His first stop is Babylon 5, which is now due to be decommissioned - someone is finally going to blow the place up for real. Musing that their fates are still linked even now, Sheridan then leaves the station for the last time and heads for Coriana VI, the place where the Shadow War ended. There, as he feels death approach, he is visited once more by Lorien. Sheridan's shuttle is found drifting in space some time later, but his body is never recovered.

Delenn is left without her husband, but not without hope and joy in her heart. As a wise man says, they did what they came to do, and nobody can take that away from them.

_Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future, and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future, or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another - because if we don't, who will? - and that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Mostly, though, I think it gave us hope, that there can always be new beginnings. Even for people like us._

_As for Delenn - every morning for as long as she lived, Delenn got up before dawn and watched the sun come up._

**13\. Let It Be - Joe Cocker**

Time to switch off the lights.

_Dedicated to all the people who predicted the Babylon Project would fail in its mission. Faith manages._

**Author's Note:**

> No list of people to ~~blame~~ thank for this project could fail to highlight quixotic_sense, who not only got me into this mess but helped out with song suggestions and the advice of an experienced FST maker during the process. In no particular order, I must also thank bubosquared, Selena, nomadicwriter, natoth, Wychwood, hobsonphile, omphalos, kangeiko, janewt, londonkds and Loki's Rose for their song suggestions. I'd like to single out kakodaimon for special thanks, due to the sheer variety and number of her recommendations. Loki's Rose, quixotic_sense and threewalls also had to put up with me in RL while my head was full of this. I apologise profusely for bothering them with it at every available opportunity.
> 
> Wychwood made the wonderful covers, and also gets all the credit for keeping the whole thing during the decade when I switched computers twice and lost not only her artwork but also several of the tracks. Thank you so much for preserving my work all this time!


End file.
